CHRONICLEWATCH / Working for a better Bay Area

Suzanne Pullen

Published 4:00 am, Sunday, May 8, 2005

IN THE WORKS

Bathroom closed in San Francisco park: Last summer, Bernal Heights residents flocked to Holly Park to celebrate improvements to the children's playground, ball field, and tennis and basketball courts. But tipster John Perry told ChronicleWatch that visitors can't use the old bathrooms. They remain locked and off-limits. "I have lived here since 1998, and I never remember them being operational," said Perry. "Their prolonged closure seems particularly unfortunate now that the park's baseball diamond has been refurbished and the summer ballgame season is quickly approaching." Status: Recreation and Parks Department spokeswoman Rose Marie Dennis said some improvements to the bathroom facilities are planned as part of the park's $2 million renovation project. She said that the old toilets weren't designed to handle the kind of use a public facility gets. The plumbing backs up often, she said, noting that during the grand re-opening celebration last summer a plumber had to come out twice to unstop the toilets. A contract, which includes work on the shell of the building and the interior fixtures and toilets but not the plumbing, is set to be awarded sometime next month. In the meantime, Dennis told us that park workers are trying to have the bathrooms open whenever scheduling allows. -- Who's responsible: Yomi Agunbiade, San Francisco parks manager; (415) 831- 2700; yomi.agunbiade@sfgov.org